But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10).

One day after Moses had grown up, he decided to go out and check on his people. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and his blood boiled with righteous indignation. He then rescued his fellow kinsman by killing the Egyptian. It is easy to imagine how Moses buried the Egyptian in the sand and then lifted up his face toward heaven and said, “Here I am Lord, use me! I am ready. I have lead a privileged life and I have been schooled in the best universities in the land. I have been trained by the best and now I am ready to go to work for you. I am your man!” But the Lord said, “I’m sorry my son, I cannot use you right now. Instead I am going to send you away, so that I can teach you MY ways”.

He Learned How to Trust

Moses ran away because he feared for his life and settled in Midian, where he married and had children. There the Lord taught him lessons that cannot be learned in any university--humility, patience, endurance, and selflessness. Most of all, he learned how to trust and depend on God instead of on himself. For forty years the Lord taught him His ways.

Then one day, as Moses was keeping the flock, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush. Moses was amazed to see that the bush was blazing, without being consumed. He became curios and walked closer to the bush. At that moment the Lord called to him out of the bush and said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).

The Lord proceeded to tell Moses in great detail that He wanted him to go the Egypt and set the Israelites free. Moses was not convinced. He was positive he was not the right man for the job. He argued with the Lord and explained that he was slow of speech and slow of tongue. He was not an eloquent man, and he was not prepared to do what God was asking of him. He begged God to choose someone else for the job, because he had nothing to offer. He felt absolutely incapable. He said, “Lord, I am not your man!” It was then that the Lord said, “My son, it is because you feel incapable that I can now use you. When you felt capable you would have insisted on doing things your way. Now you are ready to obediently carry out MY plan. You are now ready to be used by me.”

One can only imagine the thoughts that went through Moses’ mind as he surrendered his will to God. His inner struggle ceased as he sensed the sweet presence of his Lord. He was finally able to say, “Here I am Lord. I am your servant. Use me, but lead me all the way.”